EXPLORE All The Shades of Grey

MEREDITH GREY.............................................................................................

Meredith Grey is the only child born to Ellis and Thatcher Grey. She spent the early part of her childhood in Seattle, Washington, where her mother was completing her surgical residency at Seattle Grace Hospital. Her parents’ marriage was troubled, and her mother was involved in a years-long affair with her colleague, Dr. Richard Webber. Eventually, their marital troubles proved too great and Thatcher left when Meredith was five years old. Soon after, Ellis accepted a fellowship opportunity at Boston General, and relocated to Massachusetts with Meredith. Thatcher lost all contact with his daughter. The diagnoses of her mother with Alzheimers disease compelled Meredith to enroll at Dartmouth Medical School, graduating with her M.D.

DEREK SHEPHERD "Dr. McDreamy"...........................................................
Derek was born to a working/lower-middle class family in New York, and is the only son in a family of five children. His father died when he was still quite young, but he and his sisters overcame their less-than-privileged beginnings and all five Shepherd children completed medical school and became doctors. His sister Nancy is an OB-GYN and another, Kathleen, is a psychiatrist. Derek’s childhood best friend Mark Sloan, who came from a wealthier but emotionally deficient background, was like a second son to the Shepherd family.

Derek married his medical school girlfriend, Addison Montgomery, circa 1994, and the two began their residencies, studying under Dr. Richard Webber. Following residencies and fellowships, Derek and Addison quickly became very successful in their respective fields. They appeared to lead an affluent lifestyle, owning both a Manhattan brownstone overlooking Central Park and a home in the Hamptons, as well as running their own private practices. However, their success and busy workloads put a strain on their marriage and the two grew apart; the emotional distance eventually drove Addison to cheat on Derek with his best friend, Mark.

After discovering Addison in bed with Mark, Derek declared the marriage over and relocated to Seattle, accepting a job offer from his former teacher, Dr. Richard Webber, as Head of Neurosurgery at Seattle Grace Hospital and trading in the brownstone for an Airstream trailer on forty acres of rural property on Bainbridge Island.

CRISTINA YANG................................................................................................
Cristina Yang is a doctor of Korean descent and a native of Beverly Hills, California. Raised Jewish (her mother converted upon re-marriage to oral surgeon Saul Rubenstein), she has at times referred to herself as Jewish, although she believes only in science and is a strong atheist, implying that she is likely a Humanistic Jew. Her biological father died when she was nine years old in a car accident, where she watched him bleed out before help arrived. She has a B.A. from Smith College, an M.D. from Stanford University School of Medicine, graduating first in her class, and a Ph.D. from the University of California at Berkeley.

ISOBEL "Izzie" STEVENS...............................................................................
Izzie grew up in nearby Chehalis, Washington living in a trailer park with her mother, who nicknamed her "Cricket". Izzie worked as a waitress as a teenager and had savings for college, but her mother spent all of their money calling psychics, so Izzie ended up paying the vast majority of their bills with her own money. This caused their estranged relationship. When Izzie turned 18, she left home and never looked back. At 16, she gave birth to a daughter whom she subsequently gave up for adoption. Her daughter was adopted by a presumably upper-class family that once lived in Santa Barbara, but has since moved. The daughter was named Hannah by the adoption parents, but Izzie states that she named her Sarah for herself. Izzie donated bone marrow to save Hannah, who was suffering from leukemia. Izzie paid her way through medical school at University of Washington as an underwear model for a fictional lingerie company called Bethany Whisper (a play off Victoria's Secret).

GEORGE O'MALLEY "Bambi".......................................................................

George O'Malley was born to Louise and Harold O'Malley, and was raised in or around Seattle, Washington. The O'Malleys were a close-knit working class family (Harold was a truck driver and Louise is a teacher), and Harold spent significant quality time with George and his brothers, Ronny and Jerry, during their childhoods. While Ronny and Jerry shared their father's interest in turkey hunting and classic cars, George was less enthusiastic about his family's hobbies, and as an adult would show some embarrassment over them.

While his brothers found careers in dry cleaning and postal service, George attended medical school at Oregon Health and Science University. After graduation and in spite of borderline test scores and qualifications, George secured a position in the surgical internship program at Seattle Grace Hospital at the age of 27.

ALEX KAREV.....................................................................................................
Dr. Alex Karev is a former wrestler at the University of Iowa, and studied medicine on a wrestling scholarship. Alex became a wrestler because his father, a musician and drug addict, used to beat his mother. Alex beat his father after the man hit his mother. The father ended up in the hospital and he left Alex and his mother after his release. He started cleaning up after his father when he was seven as revealed in Season 4.

RICHARD WEBBER "The Chief"....................................................................
During their residency at Seattle Grace, he had an affair with Meredith's mother, Ellis Grey, although both were married. Although Ellis left her husband, Richard could not bring himself to leave his wife, Adele (he would learn decades later, however, that Adele had known about the affair all along and stayed with him anyway). He confessed in a later episode that he ended the affair because he believed that Ellis deserved better and that he had too much baggage. After completing his residency, Richard left Seattle Grace to complete his fellowship. There are continuity errors regarding where exactly Richard built his career; at one point he states that with the exception of his fellowship, he spent his entire career at Seattle Grace. However, it is also established that he both taught and befriended Addison and Derek, presumably in New York (the majority of references within the show, as well as additional sources, indicate that a good portion of Richard's career was spent in Manhattan, rather than Seattle). He is a recovering alcoholic ("Superstition").

MIRANDA BAILEY "The Nazi"........................................................................
Miranda Bailey, a graduate of Wellesley College, is a resident surgeon who was also previously in charge of the five interns (now second-year surgical residents, except for Dr. George O'Malley, who failed the intern exam). Her colleagues refer to her as "The Nazi" because of her tough personality and blunt attitude. Although often harsh with her interns, she has been shown to provide both support and advice when they need it; some might say she practices "tough love." She married Tucker Jones c.1995.

ADDISON FORBES MONTGOMERY "The She-Shepherd"......................
Addison is from Connecticut. It is implied that, like Mark Sloan, Addison comes from a wealthy background, in contrast to her former husband, Derek Shepherd, whose hard work and determination led him to success. It has been hinted at that Addison herself is very wealthy. She owns three properties: a New York brownstone, a house in the Hamptons and a house at Santa Monica. Richard Webber has stated that she is paid a salary that would make her one of the highest paid surgeons in Northwestern United States.

She was married to Derek Shepherd for eleven years before sleeping with Derek's best friend, plastic surgeon Dr. Mark Sloan, which prompted Derek to leave New York for Seattle. In spite of her chosen specialty and Derek's large family, Addison admitted to Miranda Bailey that when she and Derek discussed having children, she realized she wasn't ready. After she and Derek initially separated, she remained in New York and lived with Mark for two months, during which she became pregnant and aborted Mark's baby. The relationship ended when Mark cheated on Addison and Dr. Richard Webber brought her to Seattle Grace for a consult on a difficult case (and presumably, to break Derek and Meredith up). Richard was aware of Derek and Addison's strained relationship, though he did not know the cause of it ("Yesterday").

PRESTON BURKE............................................................................................
Dr. Preston Burke is the former chief cardiothoracic surgeon at Seattle Grace Hospital. After completing his pre-medical studies at Tulane University, Burke graduated first in his class from Johns Hopkins Medical School. He was once the interim chief of surgery while Dr. Webber was healing from his brain surgery. He began a relationship with intern Cristina Yang but broke it off because he feared it would ruin both of their reputations. Her miscarriage brought them back together. He and Cristina lived together in his perfectly-kept apartment. He plays the trumpet and enjoys jazz music, especially Eugene Foote's. He actually performs a surgery on his musical hero, but the patient dies during the surgery.

In the second season finale he was shot, which affected his control of his right-hand. His temporary fix to this possibly long-term problem was to work together with Cristina during every one of his surgeries so that she could take over in case he might have trouble with his hand. The arrangement fell apart after Cristina, reacting to growing stress after George caught onto their secret, went to the Chief and confessed everything. Initially, he was engaged in a cold war with Cristina, where neither of them spoke (neither would "say Uncle") but after she broke the silence, he proposed to her and she accepted his proposal. Before their secret was revealed, Burke was to become the next Chief of Surgery, but he had to compete with his fellow attendings for the position. He has since recovered from the injury, after being operated on by Dr. Derek Shepherd.

However, in the finale of season three, on the day of their wedding, Burke told Cristina that he no longer wished to make her do anything against her will, and realized he was trying to make Cristina the woman he wanted her to be, and not accept her as the woman she is. Cristina said she "thought this was what she wanted" . He wanted her to say she knew it was what she wanted, so he left her in the chapel. Cristina then returned to their apartment and discovered Burke had left, taking with him the things that meant something to only him (his trumpet, his Eugene Foote collection, his grandmother's picture, and his lucky scrub cap), leaving Cristina devastated.

In season 4 of Grey's Anatomy, Preston's long-time rival and love-to-hate medic Dr. Erica Hahn replaced him as the head of cardiothoracic surgery. Having such, she has a huge respect for Burke although she would never admit it to him in his face. She was even appropriately nicknamed The New Burke and Dr. McHardcore. Hahn dislikes Christina Yang because of her relationship with Dr. Burke.

CALLIOPE "Callie" TORRES..........................................................................
Callie is the former Chief Resident and an orthopaedic surgeon at Seattle Grace Hospital. She grew up in South Florida, the only daughter of a wealthy family. Callie is first introduced to the show when Dr. George O'Malley dislocates his shoulder after falling down a flight of stairs. She gives him her number, and eventually George calls and asks her out. They begin dating shortly thereafter, leading to George discovering that Callie has been living in the hospital basement. She defends herself by explaining it’s simply more convenient for work. The Chief later finds out about Callie’s living arrangement and forces her to move out. She temporarily moves in with George, however, when he becomes uncomfortable with how fast their relationship is progressing, she moves in the Archfield Hotel. Callie is disliked by Dr. Isobel "Izzie" Stevens, George's best friend, and becomes upset by the way George seems to place Izzie and Meredith before her, leading to the couple breaking up at the end of season two.

After breaking up with George, Callie goes to Joe's Bar, where she meets Dr. Mark Sloan. The two have a one-night-stand and become friends thereafter. George finds out and is jealous of her fling, but is distracted by his father’s ill-health. Callie supports him through his father’s death, and the two marry in Las Vegas on the spur of the moment. Izzie is highly unsupportive of the marriage, and Callie is pleased when George seemingly chooses her over his friendship with Izzie. However, when Callie confesses to George that she is a wealthy heiress and had kept this hidden from him, George feels betrayed. Combined with this, Callie becomes suspicious that Izzie’s feelings for George are more than platonic. Confused, George confides to Izzie about his relationship woes over alcohol, leading to a drunken sexual encounter between the two.

Callie and George reconcile, but Callie remains unaware of George’s one-night-stand. She becomes increasingly suspicious, and announces to George that she wants them to have a baby together. Shortly thereafter, however, she discovers that George has been unfaithful, ending their marriage. Callie moves out of her hotel room, and into the apartment being rented by Cristina Yang.

In episode "Didn't We Almost Have It All?", Callie is named the new chief resident, winning over Dr. Miranda Bailey and Dr. Sydney Heron. However, Callie’s personal problems and desire to be performing surgery rather than filling in paperwork interfere with her promotion, and in episode "Physical Attraction, Chemical Reaction", she is demoted, and the position of chief resident is given to Dr. Miranda Bailey.

Life for Callie isn't all bad in the fourth season though. She forms friendships with Cristina, Mark, and the new Head of Cardiothoracic Surgery, Erica Hahn. And she also begins to come to terms with George's betrayal.

LEXIE GREY......,...............................................................................................
Lexie is the daughter of Thatcher Grey and his second wife, Susan. She also has an older sister, Molly Grey Thompson. Her older half-sister is Meredith Grey, born to Thatcher and his first wife, Ellis Grey. She graduated from Harvard Medical School before being accepted in Seattle Grace's Intern Program. She was very popular in high school, having a great group of friends, being crowned prom queen, and being class valedictorian.

ERICA HAHN "The New Burke"......................................................................
Dr. Hahn is a long-time rival of Dr. Preston Burke in the field of cardiothoracic surgery, dating back to their days at Johns Hopkins Medical School, where she graduated second after Burke. She was a cardiothoracic attending surgeon at Seattle Presbyterian Hospital. In season two, she and Burke fought over a donor's heart. Later, in season three she was contacted for a consult on Harold O'Malley's valve replacement.

She and Burke have a love-hate friendship over their competition, and though she would die before saying it in front of him, Dr. Hahn respects and admires Burke tremendously. She told Cristina Yang that if Cristina ever learned anything from Burke, she would be "half the surgeon that Burke is, and that's pretty damn good".

Hahn joined the staff of Seattle Grace Hospital in the season four Halloween episode, "Haunt You Everyday", after performing a heart transplant at the request of the Chief of Surgery at Seattle Grace, Richard Webber. As such, she became Head of Cardiothoracic Surgery at Seattle Grace after Burke's departure, and was dubbed "The New Burke".

Currently, Hahn is antagonizing Cristina Yang, for whom Hahn expresses a deep disapproval of due to her "brown-nosing" and generally annoying behaviour - as far as Hahn perceives her, anyway.^[2] She also disapproves of Cristina's pattern of past romantic partners, all being her professional superiors and cardiothoracic surgeons. As a result, Hahn has been reluctant to let Cristina work with and learn from her, despite the fact that Cristina wants, and shows the most apititude, for cardiothoracics out of all the first year residents.

Mid fourth season, Mark Sloan develops a huge crush on her because she is "sassy". But she does not believe he is really attracted to her, but just thinks he is because she is not attracted to him.^[3] He has not given up though. In episode 4.10, while Hahn, Sloan, Torres, Karev, and Stevens are working on a patient, Sloan yet again hits on Hahn at an inappropriate moment and Hahn harshly rejects him. Later on, Hahn regards his looks as the reason why he gets away with much of his offensive banters. Later that night after a hard day, she lowers her guard to ask both Dr. Torres and Dr. Sloan if they would want to get a drink with her. Torres translated to Sloan that she was reaching out for a friend.

In the season 4 mid-finale (season four, eleventh episode), it is revealed that she and Callie have formed a new friendship. Also, she admits to Sloan that she finds him attractive, but since they work together, she will respect their potential for a platonic friendship and leave her feelings outside of the hospital's walls. At the end of the episode, she and Callie walk out into the night and leave Mark behind.

It has now been revealed that Mark was still not ready to give up though. In episode 4.12, after weeks of continued persistance, Erica agrees to go on a date with him, to his major excitement.

MARK SLOAN "McSteamy"...........................................................................
Mark was born to an upper-class but emotionally distant family in New York City. At a young age, he befriended Derek Shepherd and became like a second son to the Shepherd family, although he would eventually sleep with at least one of the Shepherd sisters, Nancy. Their friendship lasted throughout childhood and into their adult years, and Mark was Derek's best man at his wedding to Addison Montgomery. Mark attended medical school at Columbia University College of Physicians and Surgeons, completed his residency in otolaryngology, a fellowship in plastic surgery, and quickly became one of the most highly-regarded plastic surgeons on the East Coast with a thriving private practice. As Derek and Addison's marriage became strained, Mark and Addison grew closer, and eventually Mark slept with Addison, only for Derek to catch them in the act.

After Derek declared his marriage to Addison and friendship with Mark over and left town, Mark and Addison lived together for two months. During this time, Addison became pregnant with Mark's baby. He was initially excited about the pregnancy, but Addison had an abortion amidst rumors of Mark's infidelity, and soon left Mark to follow Derek to Seattle.